The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of group hope therapy on happiness and psychological well-being of elderly people. The research method is quasi-experimental with pre-test and post-test design with control group. The research population included all elderly people living in nursing homes of Tehran in 2018. Using convenient sampling method, 30 people (10 subjects from 3 centers). Then, they were randomly assigned into one of the experimental and control groups (each group contained 15 subjects). Then, the experimental group received eight training sessions, twice per week, 60 minutes per session, and they received hope therapy training, and the control group received an irrelevant training to prevent their bias. Finally, both groups were post-tested. To collect data, Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (1989) and Reef Psychological Well-being Questionnaire (1995) were used. The results revealed that the hypothesis of the research on the effect of group-based hope therapy approach on the happiness and psychological well-being of the elderly people was confirmed (P <0.05) and the elderly people of the experimental group, compared to the elderly people of the control group, showed an increase in happiness and psychological well-being in the post-test. Thus, it can be concluded that group-based hope therapy approach is effective in enhancing the happiness and psychological well-being of elderly people and it can be used as one of the psychological training methods by counselors in public and private nursing homes.
